News


downsmail.co.uk Steps to improve Social festival


THE organiser of The Social festival is to be reined in by Maidstone Council after a catalogue of complaints following this year’s event in September.


Reports of anti-social behaviour in


the streets around Mote Park were widespread, as youngsters availed themselves of “legal highs” being sold near the park gates, councillors were told. Drunks and drug dealers trespassed on residents’ drives, leav- ing litter and even more unsavoury calling cards as they spilled out un- supervised from the day-long music bash, the leisure committee heard. The Social festival has taken place


in the park for the past three years and the council gets a fee from the organiser and a share of ticket sales. Laura Dickson, the council’s mar-


keting and sales manager, said: “It brings economic benefits to the bor- ough and supports the evening economy of the town centre.” It was estimated that the 10,000


festival goers spent almost £1m in bars, restaurants and hotels this year. But such was the devastation caused by the crowd that the council


withheld £1,176 from the organiser’s deposit to cover reinstatement of the park and cleaningup after the event. Ms Dickson said: “Whilst the


event was regarded as well organ- ised within the park, it did create a series of serious problems for resi- dents in the surrounding streets.” The committee agreed that the


event should be allowed to take place again in 2016 – but not on the same weekend as another festival, such as the Maidstone Mela. The council will also insist on a much more stringent event management plan and appropriate licence – all to be paid for by the organiser. It will also insist on stricter secu-


rity and policing of the event, better signage and transport for visitors at the railway stations. The plan will also ensure that


steps are taken in the planning and direction of the stages to insulate sound better and reduce external


noise levels. The council received 53 complaints from residents around Mote Park following the September event – almost three times as many as the previous year. The complaints related to noise,


traffic management, litter and anti- social behaviour – including abusive behaviour and instances of people trespassing in gardens and defecat- ing in the streets. It took council staff three hours to


clear rubbish from Mote Avenue, and the Lower Road and Upper Road estates following the event. Residents complained about vehi-


cles trying to park or drop off in streets near the park, blocking drive- ways and parking on green spaces, in spite of parking provision in the park and at the leisure centre. The organisers admitted there should have been more temporary toilets and stewards at the park en- trances.


Cllr Clive English said: “In allmy


21 years on the council, I have never had the volume of complaints about a single event as I did about this one. The kind of activity taking place in broad daylight, in the cut- throughs, is the sort of thing you would expect in Amsterdam, not Maidstone.” Event organiser Luke Bendall had already met with council officers and agreed to meet the additional obligations – including extra stew- arding, a traffic management plan and a comprehensive clean-up pro- gramme. Cllr English said he would prefer


to see the festival moved to Detling Showground but Ms Dickson said: “Detling Showground can accom- modate such an event but is not well served by public transport and in all probability would see more people arriving by car, causing local congestion and problems.”


Advice to drivers as park and ride closes


MAIDSTONECouncil has issued advice to drivers, following the news that its Sittingbourne Road park and ride service will close on Monday, February 8. The council has been forced to


Lifesaving


gift to club PLAYERS at Aylesford Football Club are in safe hands thanks to the donation of a defibrillator by South East Water’s Community Chest Fund. Thewater company gave the foot-


ball club £1,000 towards the lifesav- ing equipment, and joined MP for Chatham and Aylesford and sport minister Tracey Crouch to see it at the Clive Evenden Pavilion. Ms Crouch said: “Sudden cardiac


arrest can happen to people of all ages at any time. However having a defibrillator to hand can increase the chance of survival to up to 75%. “After beginning a campaign to


get defibrillators into the local com- munity, I have since secured adefib- rillator for all secondary schools in the constituency whowanted one, a local rugby club and two for Snod- land and Burham, which can be ac- cessed around the clock.” Clive Evenden, club secretary at


Aylesford Football Club, said: “We hope we will never have to use the defibrillator but it gives us peace of mind thatwe have one.”


26 Malling December 2015 WI members’ centenary copse


A HUNDRED young trees were planted at Leybourne Lakes Country Park to celebrate the centenary of theWomen’s Institute. Members of theHamHill and SnodlandWIjoined forces with park rangers


and conservation volunteers to plant the saplings, provided by theWoodland Trust’s free trees scheme. The trees included rowan, silver birch, wild cherry, oak, grey willow and field maple. The centenary copse was the idea of the WI branch’s secretary Helen


Orme, who is also amember of the park’s conservation group. Cllr Maria Heslop, Tonbridge and Malling Council’s cabinet member for community services, said: “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the WI centenary and I’d like to thank all the local WI members and volunteers for helping to plantwhat will become a fully grown, beautiful copse.”


give up the service because of the escalating costs of leasing the land from Gallagher Properties near Junction 7 of the M20. Cllr David Burton, chairman of


the town’s transport committee, said he hoped commuters would use one of the other park and ride sites – atWillington Street or Lon- don Road, accessible from Junc-


tions 5 and 8 of the M20 – or the Sittingbourne Road long-stay car park, which has spare capacity. Some residents can use the Ar-


riva bus service 333 and the coun- cil is encouraging bus companies to introduce services to meet exist- ing and futuredemandin the area. Cllr Burton said:“We are disap- pointed that, despite negotiation, the increased cost to renew the lease for the Sittingbourne Road park and ride site meantwe could- n’t afford to maintain the service.” The council has been subsidis- ing the site by more than £550,000


per year. “To increase this to cover higher


costs at one site would not offer taxpayers good value for money, and would require service cuts elsewhere,” he said. The council carried out a com- prehensive search for alternative sites in the area before taking the decision to close the site, but high land values meant that no viable alternative could be found. Cllr Burton stressed that the council had no plans to close the Willington Street and London Road sites.


Ofsted praise


CHILDMINDER Fiona Bryant, of Cobham Drive, Kings Hill,was said to have a good understanding of child development, according to an Ofsted inspector. This meant she was able to pro-


vide valuable learning experiences and the childrenwere motivated. Keen observation meant she was


able to identify children’s next steps and plan activities to enable them to make good learning progress. The children were said to be


happy and settled and had good re- lationships with the childminder, who knew their individual needs and interests. This helped to support their emotionalwell-being. Therewere opportunities to learn


about diversity and differences be- tween themselves and others. The provisionwas rated good, but


to improv, the childminder could make more of opportunities to ex- tend children’s interest in literacy.


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